January 10, 2026
— Josef Pieper · Source: Hope and History (Eng. trans. 1969), ch. V "The Great Banquet", p. 85
2 Corinthians 4:16–18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. For we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen; for what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
True hope is not denying darkness, but refusing to let darkness be the final explanation. The external world does indeed decay, and life does indeed endure stress and wear. But the wondrous turning point is this: as the external world gradually decays, God continually renews us within. The issue is not whether there is suffering, but what we choose to focus our attention on. If we only focus on what we see, suffering becomes heavy and absolute; but when we learn to focus on what we cannot see, suffering is repositioned, no longer the end point, but a transition to glory, placed anew by God into a larger story.
Lord, you know my true weariness, weakness, and unwillingness to admit my despair. Some sufferings are not light, and some darkness is not fleeting, but help me not to surrender the power of interpretation to the reality before my eyes. When my outward appearance is broken, renew me within me; when I am attracted and oppressed by temporary things, turn my eyes to the unseen but eternal glory. Lord, I do not defend evil, but I want to believe that you are not a bystander in history, but the God who brings renewal and glory even after suffering. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.